Offer… I teach jewelry at Loyola Marymount University in Los
Angeles and have a Rapid Prototyping lab. I have two systems. The
Sanders machine which is able to achieve the best detail and
makes a wax model. I also have the Stratasys which make the model
out of AB plastic which can be molded. I have burned out the
plastic, but it is a little tricky to cast directly. I would like
to offer these facilities to the jewelry community. I need to be
reimbursed for the materials and the running of the machines. The
systems are the happiest when running all the time and with the
school schedule I don’t have files to run all the time.

The files can be dxf. or stl. for the Sanders and stl. for the
Stratsys. They have been sent to me over the internet from as far
away as Germany.

Dear Sue: Thank you for the offer you made concerning your prototyping
machines. Could you give me some idea as to the cost of using your
machines. I usually produce one-of-a-kind pieces but I’m considering
producing some elements, Celtic borders, etc., that might be useful for
several projects.

I am interested in having some prototypes made of my designs. I’ve
been a bench jeweler for 16 years and recently ( thelast 2 years have
not been able to work as a bench Jeweler because of tendinitis and
carpal tunnel. I miss the creativity, I’m working part time in the
mall doing sales, but it’s not really my forte. If I could bypass some
of the more stressful benchwork, I think I could produce some jewelry.
I’m interested in doing some amuletic pendants with lettering and
images, filigree type designs, and possibly rings. That’s why I
thought CAD generated prototypes would be a good option. I’ll have to
get the castings commercially finished, again to bypass intensive
handwork. I’ll save my hands to set stones and do light-duty work such
as soldering. If you could please explain the process, what type of
designs the technology is capable of making, and the cost per piece
and for quantity, it would be much appreciated.

Jesse, The file format I need is .dxf or .stl, and it does not matter
what program you use. You send me the files over the internet and I
put them into the machines’ programs to determine the hours and
matierals needed. The price is calculated from this Rapid
prototyping can create any type of design. The tolerance is .005 of an
inch. Hope this answers your questions… Sue

All the above are very qualified jewelry designers using CAD, Dmitry
and Steve train people on how to use CAD with either Jewelcad or
FormZ. Hope this helps and I’m certain learning CAD will get you back
into designing jewelry.

Sanders Prototype, manufacturer of the ModelMaker-II, is the world
leader with over 100 ModelMakers installed in the jewelry industry.
Explore the advantages of CAD/CAM software and hardware in a jewelry
design and manufacturing environment. Discover new rapid
manufacturing processes with accuracy to +/- .025 mm and excellent
surface finish. Learn to quickly react to customer design changes
before casting precious metal. Create one master wax pattern verses
the normal 3 to 4.

Recent advances in computer aided design software, declining computer
hardware prices, and new development of high quality pattern making
equipment have finally made cost effective CAD/CAM solutions for the
jewelry industry a reality.

I’m really surprised that the jewelry industry would accept .005 in
accuracy or slice thickness. This has been totally unacceptable in
this industry to date. .005 in is the same as .125 mm. The Sanders
machine will produce models at .0127 mm or .0005 inches. Jesse, do
yourself a favor and have the models produced on a Sanders machine.

Hi Sue, I wrote to you once before regarding CAD CAM for jewelry
design… I seem to remember that you recommended Rhino as a starter
program to create the files…where do I get it? Is it free? I just
downloaded somthing called Truespace… have you heard of it? I’m on a
student budget right now… What would you say would be my best
option? thank you, Jesse —

Jesse, Rhino is a good software and a trail demo can be downloaded athttp://www.rhino3d.com. The best part about the software is that you
can click on the help button and it will expalin the operation you
have choosen. You can work while the help window is open. Rhino offers
an educational discount…I don’t know if it is for students too!! If
you are a student, you can check out the mechanical engineering dept.
They should have a computer lab. They will probably use Autocad…if
you use Rhino for a while you will be more familiar with 3d modeling
and might be able to handel autocad. Good Luck Sue

Aloha, Rhino3D is selling for $795 for an industrially licensed
product and sells for $175 for educational applications (to state
certified schools and students of these schools). You can buy the
educational license directly from McNeel, with the appropriate and
required documents (www.rhino3d.com or www.mcneel.com). Rhino3d for
industrial application is available from me. I have seen Rhino3D sell
for less, but it is either old stock (version 1, you have pay
additional for the upgrade to the current version) or there is no
support available. Other design software available are ArtCAM Pro
4.5, JewelCAD, IronCAD, FormZ and Freeform. We also have several
output devices, including CNC mills, plunge EDM and Stereolithography
devices. Reverse engineering solutions (3D Scanners), modelmaking
specific technologies, training and equipment. If I can answer any
questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

I am a manufacturing jeweller in New Zealand and a contributor
to the Ganoksin website where I read your email recently. I am
interested in knowing more about the rapid prototyping equipment
you are working on. Along with another company I am keen to
develop our manufacturing further with the use of subtractive or
additive prototyping machines. I have had a quick look at the
website reprapdoc.voodoo.co.nz . Are you also located in NZ or is it
just a NZ hosted website. If you can provide a low cost rapid
prototyping machine I would be keen to look at purchasing one.
Please let me know if you are close to being able to supply a
machine.

Short answer: “Not yet. Try again in three years.”

Long answer:

The RepRap project is a non-profit internet-based collaborative
group, much like the open source projects that work on the Linux
operating system kernel or the Mozilla Firefox web browser; the NZ
site belongs to one of my NZ-based colleagues. (I’m up in Canada
myself.)

We’re working on making a filament-depostion manufacturing (FDM)
rapid-prototyper (RP) that will make copies of itself. People will
be encouraged to take those copies and make more copies.

We’re not close to supplying a machine; our target date to achieve
self-replication and announce the 1.0 release of the project is “two
years and a bit”. Once we’re successful, we’ll be shipping out loaner
machines to people who want to make their own. Separate from that,
anyone who wants to will be able to download the plans (.stl
files,.dwg files, g-code, etc.) and mill/rapid-prototype a new
machine. Once they’ve got that new machine they can sell it, use it
to make a copy, or do whatever they want with it.

This is not to say that individual RepRap group members won’t be
separately making and selling the machines, but it’s not really the
point of the collaboration. Once we do have the plans and the loaner
machines out, there should be an energetic cottage industry making
and selling the things.

Our build cost looks like it will be around USD$400, so people will
probably be selling them for $800-1000, I guess. If someone tries to
sell them for $2K, they’re not going to sell very many before their
new customers start running off cheaper copies.

The feedstock we’re using, polycaprolactone, costs $4.05/lb before
processing it into filament, and should be suitable for lost wax
casting. We’re working with a 0.5 mm nozzle orifice, and so far have
made one working part, a small block with a hole it it. (And our
logo, but that doesn’t really count.) We haven’t experimented with
0.1 mm or 0.2 mm nozzles yet. They might be easy, they might not; I’m
reluctant to speculate. It may be start putting down random waxes
using a RepRap, it might not.

If you like working on hardware, you might end up doing the same
thing I’m up to. Buy a Taig benchtop mill or equivalent, CNC-adapt it
if necessary, machine an extrusion head, remove the spindle from your
mill and replace it with the newly made extrusion head, slap on a
newly made circuit board to control the motors and extruder head, and
you’re in business! RP the positioning system using your modified
machine, pop some new motors onto the new positioning system, put the
extruder head on it, and you’re done. Or you can do it all with an RP
machine, or you can do it all with a CNC mill. Or you can wait a bit
and buy one, or pay a machine/RP shop to make you one, or wait till
one of your friends builds/buys one, and have him or her run you off
a copy.

If you can’t wait to get your hands on a fabrication machine in the
next month or two, I’d suggest you buy a mill rather than a RP
machine, unless you’re confident you’d recover your investment in an
RP machine quickly. If our project is successful, the bottom may fall
out of the FDM additive fabrication market. A mill will still hold
its value 5 years from now. A FDM machine probably won’t. The CAD/CAM
experience and software you pick up will be useful regardless.

I hope that wasn’t too long. I tend to go on about this stuff. Our
project lead says in his experience, people start looking at their
shoes after about half an hour of him talking about this.